System and method for presenting wind speed information

ABSTRACT

A system and method for presenting wind speed information in a manner so as to be easily understood and appreciated by viewers of televised weather report presentations and the like. Wind speed information is presented as two or three-dimensional wind speed contour lines, delineating geographic areas corresponding to different wind speeds, overlaid on a geographic map display either alone, or in combination with radar reflectivity information. Wind velocity information received from a weather radar system, such as NEXRAD, relative to the weather radar is converted to absolute wind speed information for display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to now pendingU.S. application Ser. No. 11/506,149, filed Aug. 17, 2006, which claimspriority on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/708,873, filed Aug. 17,2005, the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains generally to systems and methods fordisplaying representations of weather phenomena, e.g., overlaid on mapsof geographic locations, for televised weather presentations, and thelike, and computer-based systems and methods for preparing andmanipulating such presentations including systems and methods forprocessing and displaying wind speed information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various systems and methods have been developed for providing viewers ofbroadcast and cable television weather presentations with informativeand accurate weather information. Typically, such systems provide adisplay of representations of weather phenomena, e.g., clouds, rain,storms, etc., overlaid on a map of a geographic area of interest. Suchdisplays were originally created by drawing representations of weatherphenomena, or placing pre-made weather phenomena symbols, on a physicalmap of an area of interest. The image of the map was then broadcast witha weather presenter positioned in front of the map to provide anexplanation of the map display. Computer systems are now employed tofacilitate the generation of such weather presentations, usingcomputer-generated graphics and animation.

A typical computer-implemented system for preparing a weather reportpresentation will include detailed digital maps of geographic areas ofinterest stored for access by the computer. Weather information, such assatellite imagery and/or weather radar information, such as NEXRADweather radar information provided by the government or live local radardata, is provided to the system. The system processes the receivedweather information that is then overlaid in graphical form on thedigital maps to create a graphic display of the weather for a particulararea of interest. The weather information received by the system may beprocessed to generate weather symbols, color contours, or otherrepresentations of the weather information that are overlaid on thedigital maps to create the weather presentation. A series of suchweather displays may be generated by the computer system, and playedback in sequence to provide an animated image of the movement of weatherphenomena through a geographic area. Such systems may provide anoperator with various tools for selecting, e.g., the geographic locationto be displayed, reference points to be displayed on the geographic map,e.g., cities, roads, borders, etc., the source of weather information tobe displayed on the geographic map, e.g., satellite imagery or radar,and how the weather information will be presented, e.g., symbols, colorcontours, etc. An exemplary system and method for the preparation ofgraphical weather displays for broadcast as part of a weather reportpresentation, particularly for the preparation of weather displays thatshow the current and predicted path of severe weather, is described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,339,747, which is assigned to Weather Central, Inc., theassignee of the present application, the details of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Although a variety of different types of weather information are used togenerated weather displays to be used as part of broadcast and otherweather report presentations, not all of the currently available typesof weather information typically are automatically processed forinclusion in such presentations. Some types of weather information areprovided currently from their respective weather information sources ina form that is useful only to a trained meteorologist or otherprofessional who can interpret the information as provided and thenmanually or orally incorporate the information into a broadcast weatherreport presentation. In other cases available weather information may bepresented to viewers of a weather report presentation in a manner suchthat it is difficult for the typical viewer to understand thesignificance of the information or how the information relates to aparticular interested viewer. An example of weather information that iscurrently available but not currently presented as a part of weatherpresentations in a form that is useful to most viewers, if at all, iswind speed information.

Modern weather radar systems, such as the government's NEXRAD weatherradar system, are able to provide wind velocity data in a graphicalform. In the current commonly used presentation format, wind velocityinformation is presented based on the Doppler shift information that theradar system uses to determine wind velocity. That is, wind velocityinformation may typically be displayed by current systems as a graphicaloverlay on a geographic map display showing one color in areas with windheaded toward the radar site and another color in areas with wind headedaway from the radar site. Wind intensity relative to the radar site isshown in the intensity or shading of the color in which the windvelocity is presented in the map display. From such a graphicalpresentation a trained professional can locate high wind areas,determine wind directions, observe rotational activity (e.g.,tornadoes), and report on these to viewers of a weather reportpresentation. However, such a display of wind velocity (speed anddirection) relative to a radar site in and of itself is difficult tocomprehend for an average weather report viewer who simply wants to knowhow fast or strong the wind is blowing.

What is desired, therefore, is an improved system and method forpresenting weather phenomenon information, specifically wind speedinformation, in a manner that is more easily understandable to viewersof televised and other weather report presentations. Such a presentationof wind speed information should be easy to interpret by individualviewers in a manner such that a viewer can immediately understand thesignificance of the weather information being presented to theindividual viewer's specific location of interest. Such wind speedinformation preferably also may be presented to a user electronically ina personalized manner, e.g., via email, cellular phone, etc., such thatthe user is made aware of nearby wind speed alerts and/or the wind speedat the user's current location or other location of interest (home,work, school, vacation home, etc.).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for presenting windspeed information in an improved manner, such that weather reportpresentation viewers are better able to understand and appreciate thesignificance of the weather information being provided to them. Thepresent invention may be implemented in a computer system thatautomatically receives wind velocity or other wind data from appropriatedata sources and processes the received data to generate easilyunderstandable displays of such information that may be incorporated ina televised broadcast weather report presentation or a weatherpresentation provided on the internet or via any other communicationsmedia.

In accordance with the present invention, wind speed information ispresented to viewers as wind speed contours, with different colors orshading of the contours representing different absolute wind speed,overlaid on a geographic map display. The wind speed contours delineategeographic areas experiencing different ranges of wind intensities, suchthat a viewer can easily determine the wind intensity in areas ofinterest to the viewer. The wind speed contours may be presented in twoor three-dimensional representations, and may be labeled to indicatewind speed intensity and/or colored or shaded to indicate wind speedintensity with an appropriate legend provided on the display to allow aviewer to interpret the coloring or shading of the contours provided.The wind speed contours may be overlaid on a map display along withradar reflectivity data, showing precipitation intensity, such that aviewer can determine storm intensity, i.e., wind speed in combinationwith precipitation intensity, for the viewer's location of interest.

A wind speed presentation in accordance with the present invention maybe derived automatically by a computer system that receives windvelocity data (as well as reflectivity data) or other wind data from aweather radar system, such as the NEXRAD radar system. If wind velocitydata is received from such radar systems as wind velocity relative tothe radar site, in accordance with the present invention, absolute valuewind speeds are determined from the radar site relative wind velocitydata received from the radar system. This absolute value wind speed datais used to generate the two or three dimensional wind speed contoursthat are overlaid on, e.g., computer generated geographic maps (eitheralone or along with the radar reflectivity data) to provide a moreeasily understandable representation of wind speed information that maybe incorporated in a televised or other weather report presentation.

In accordance with the present invention, wind speed information also oralternatively may be provided directly in a personalized manner toindividual viewer users. For example, such user viewers may beindividuals or businesses that provide to a computer system providingwind speed information in accordance with the present invention anindication of a specific location of interest. Such a location mayinclude the viewer's home, place of work or business, or the like. Aswind speed information is received by the system it is compared tostored viewer locations of interest. As alert level wind speeds aredetermined to occur within a certain range of a viewer location ofinterest a wind speed alert or other message may be generated anddelivered to a contact address provided by the viewer. For example, thecontact address may be an e-mail address, cellular or other phonenumber, or the like. The wind speed alert message generated anddelivered may thus be an e-mail or cellular phone text message providingthe distance of the wind speed alert from the viewer location ofinterest, may include a graphical display indicating the nature of thewind speed alert relative to the viewer's location of interest, and/ormay even include a voice message generated, e.g., by a voice messagegenerator in the computer system.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary computer basedsystem for implementing a system and method for generating wind speedinformation presentations in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of wind speed information presentedin accordance with the present invention as wind speed contours overlaidon a computer generated map display in combination with a graphicalrepresentation of weather radar reflectivity (precipitation intensity)information.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an exemplary method forgenerating a wind speed information presentation in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram of an exemplary method for generating apersonalized wind speed presentation in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for presentingweather phenomenon information, specifically wind speed information, ina manner that is useful and informative to viewers of such informationwho are not meteorologists or weather experts. The present inventionwill be described in detail herein with reference to the generation ofwind speed presentations that may be incorporated as part of broadcastor other televised weather report presentations. It should beunderstood, however, that the present invention also is applicable tothe generation of wind speed information presentations that may beprovided to viewers over various other communications media other thanbroadcast (including over-the-air, cable, satellite, etc.) channels,including weather report presentations delivered to viewers over theinternet and via other wired or wireless communications systems, such ascellular phones and the like.

Wind speed information presentations in accordance with the presentinvention preferably are generated substantially automatically, i.e.,with minimum user interaction required, in a computer based weatherpresentation generating system. An exemplary computer based system 10for generating wind speed information presentations in accordance withthe present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. Any conventionalcomputer system 12 may be used to implement the functions required forgenerating viewer friendly wind speed information presentations inaccordance with the present invention. Preferably, a computer 12 havingsufficient processing power and speed to process significant amounts ofgraphical and other information in a reasonable amount of time isemployed. The computer 12 used for generating wind speed informationpresentations in accordance with the present invention may beimplemented as a single computer or as several computers networkedtogether in a conventional manner. Computers 12 already in use byproducers of weather report presentations to generate such reports maybe programmed with the additional functionality required to implement amethod for presenting wind speed information in accordance with thepresent invention. The computer 12 employed to implement the presentinvention preferably includes conventional input devices 14, e.g., acomputer keyboard, mouse, etc., to allow an operator to interact withthe program functionality, as well as conventional output devices 16,e.g., one or more high resolution computer displays for reviewing thewind speed presentations generated by the system 10. Conventionalcomputer memory 18 associated with the computer 12 is used to store theprograms which implement the functions of generating wind speedpresentations 20 in accordance with the present invention in the mannerto be described in more detail herein. The computer memory 18 alsoincludes the required operating system and other programs for generaloperation of the computer 12 on which the system and method forpresenting wind speed information in accordance with the presentinvention is implemented. Based on the detailed description, exemplarypresentation output, and flow chart diagrams described herein, a personof ordinary skill in the art of computer programming for the generationof weather report presentations win be able to implement a system andmethod for presenting speed information in accordance with the presentinvention on a conventional computer system 12 as described herein usingconventional operating systems and programming languages as commonlyused for such applications.

A system 10 for generating wind speed presentations in accordance withthe present invention preferably generates presentations substantiallyautomatically based on weather phenomenon data that is provided to thesystem 10 from one or more weather information sources. For example,weather radar data 24 provided to the system 10 may include windvelocity or wind speed data as well as radar reflectivity data that isused in generating automatically a wind speed presentation 20 inaccordance with the present invention, as will be described in moredetail below. An exemplary weather radar source of such wind velocitydata is the NEXRAD weather radar system operated by the National WeatherService. The wind velocity data provided by NEXRAD, and other, weatherradar systems, typically is provided relative to the weather radar site,i.e., identifying wind headed toward or away from the radar site and therelative velocity thereof. As will be discussed in more detail below,such radar site relative wind velocity data is converted into absolutevalue wind speed information for incorporation in a viewer friendly windspeed presentation 20 in accordance with the present invention. Itshould be understood that the present invention may also make use ofother wind data provided by other radar 24 or other weather informationsources, including such sources that may provide absolute value windspeed information, for generating wind speed presentations in accordancewith the present invention.

The system 10 may also receive other weather data 28 from other weatherdata sources. Such other weather data 28 may include weather informationreceived from remote or manned weather observation positions, satelliteimagery, etc. Such other weather data 28, in combination with wind andradar reflectivity data, may be employed by the system 10 to generate acomplete weather report presentation, including a wind speedpresentation in accordance with the present invention. Selected weatherinformation from the weather information sources 24 and 28 may be storedfor processing in a weather database 30 by the system computer 12.

The system 10 also preferably employs geographic data, includinggeographic maps and other information, to generate wind speedpresentations in accordance with the present invention. Such geographicdata may be stored in one or more geography databases 32. The geographydatabase 32 may thus include information such as, for example, computergenerated maps and/or satellite imagery of geographic areas of interest,as well as geographic information or programs for converting genericgeographic coordinates, e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates, tospecific address locations, including landmark locations, roads andstreet, etc. Commercially available geographic map data, satelliteimagery, and other geographic information may be employed to populatethe geographic database 32, as required.

Wind speed presentations generated by the system 10 may be previewed byan operator thereof on the system display screen or other output 16. Theresulting wind speed presentations, either alone or in combination withother presentations of current or forecast weather phenomenon orconditions, may then be sent to a broadcast system 34 for broadcast aspart of a televised or other weather report presentation. Wind speedpresentations in accordance with the present invention also may berecorded for broadcast at a later time, and/or may be delivered toviewers 36 via various different communications media including viacable, satellite, computer network (such as the Internet 38), wirelesscommunications such as cellular phone 40), and other directcommunication channels 42, etc.

As will be discussed in more detail below, a system and method forpresenting wind speed information in accordance with the presentinvention may generate wind speed presentations for broadcast or otherdistribution to viewers 36 within a particular area of interest as wellas, or alternatively, personalized wind speed presentations that may bedelivered to individual or business viewers 36. Such individual viewers36 may communicate with the system 10 via conventional wired or wirelesscommunication channels, such as the internet 38, cellular phone 40, orother 42 communication channels, to provide viewer profile informationto the system 10. Such viewer profile information may include, forexample, one or more viewer locations of interest, such as a home,school, place of business or other operations, etc. The viewer profileinformation may also include a viewer contact address to which thepersonalized wind speed information presentation generated by the system10 is to be delivered. The viewer contact address may be, for example,an e-mail address, cellular or other telephone number, etc. (The viewerprofile information may be provided to the system 10 over the internet38 via an online user interface of the type illustrated and described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,498,987 and 6,823,263 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORPROVIDING PERSONALIZED WEATHER REPORTS AND THE LIKE and U.S. Pat. No.6,654,689 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PERSONALIZED STORMWARNINGS, the details of which are incorporated by reference herein.)Such viewer profile information may be stored in a viewer informationdatabase 44 for use by the system 10 in generating and deliveringpersonalized wind speed presentations in accordance with the presentinvention.

Wind velocity data received from weather radar sources, such as NEXRAD,typically is provided relative to the radar site. Currently, windvelocity information also typically is presented graphically in thisrelative manner. For example, such wind velocity data may be shownoverlaid on a computer generated map background. In this conventionalmanner of presenting wind velocity data, wind heading toward the radarsite is indicated in one color or shade, with wind headed away from theradar site indicated in another color or shade. Wind velocity amplitudeis indicated by further shading of the wind velocity data. This type ofwind velocity presentation may be very useful to meteorologists andother trained professionals. For example, from such a presentation ameteorologist may notice high wind velocities headed in oppositedirections in nearly adjacent areas, indicating the possibility ofrotation, e.g., tornadic activity. However, such a conventionalpresentation of wind velocity data may not be very easily understood orappreciated by the ordinary viewers of broadcast and other weatherpresentations.

In accordance with the present invention, absolute value wind speedinformation is presented in a manner that is more easily understandableby viewers of broadcast and other weather report presentations. Anexemplary wind speed presentation display 46 in accordance with thepresent invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. In accordance with thepresent invention, wind speed information is presented as contour lines48 overlaid on a geographic map display 50. The contour lines 48delineate areas of absolute wind speeds. That is, the areas between thecontour lines 48 represent areas in which the absolute wind speed (i.e.,wind speed relative to the ground) falls within a selected range.Contour lines 48 may be color coded or otherwise labeled numerically 52(e.g., in miles per hour (MPH) of wind speed) to indicate the absolutewind speeds delineated by the contour lines 48. An appropriate legend 54may be provided on the presentation to allow a viewer to interpret anycolor coding or shading provided on the contours 48. In accordance withthe present invention, the wind velocity contours 48 may be overlaid onthe map display 50 in combination with radar reflectivity data 56,indicating precipitation intensity. Different levels of reflectivity(precipitation) may be designated by different colors on the display 46.By combining absolute wind speed information contours 48 with radarreflectivity 56 (precipitation) intensity information, a viewer of thecombined display 46 is able quickly to determine both wind speed andprecipitation intensity for the viewer's particular location ofinterest.

An exemplary method 60 for generating a wind velocity presentation inaccordance with the present invention will now be described withreference to the flow chart diagram of FIG. 3. The process begins withthe wind velocity data as received 62 from the data source, such as aweather radar system, e.g., NEXRAD. As discussed above, wind velocitydata provided by such systems may include wind velocity amplitude anddirection information relative to the radar site at which the windvelocity is determined. In accordance with the present invention, thisrelative wind velocity data received 62 from the weather radar source isconverted 64 into absolute wind speed information. (If the windinformation received by the system is already in the form of absolutewind speed this step may be skipped.) The absolute wind speedinformation is employed, in turn, to generate 66 the wind velocitycontours. As described above, wind velocity contours define geographicareas having wind velocities falling between defined ranges. Differentcolors or labels may be used to indicate the specific wind velocity orrange of wind velocities represented by the wind velocity contours 48.The generated wind velocity contours 48 are then overlaid 68 ongeographic data 70 to generate a wind velocity display in accordancewith the present invention, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2. Geographicdata 70 over which the wind speed contours are displayed may includeconventional available computer generated map imagery or othergeographic information. The contours 68 are overlaid on the properposition on the geographic data 70 in a conventional manner. The use ofnavigated geographic map data facilitates this overlaying process. Asdiscussed above, weather radar reflectivity data 72, showingprecipitation intensity, e.g., as various different colors, may also beoverlaid on the geographic data 70, with the wind speed contoursoverlaid on the reflectivity data 72, as illustrated by example in FIG.3. The resulting wind speed information display may then be presented 74as desired, e.g., as part of a televised weather report broadcast orother weather presentation.

Although shown by example in FIG. 2 as a two-dimensional presentation,it should be understood that a wind speed presentation in accordancewith the present invention may also be provided in three-dimensionalform, e.g., with three-dimensional contours showing absolute wind speedat various altitudes. Such a three-dimensional presentation may beviewed in a variety of ways, e.g., by slicing, virtual fly-through, etc.

An alternative process 110 in accordance with the present invention forgenerating and providing personalized wind speed information to viewersnow will be described with reference to FIG. 4. This process also beginswith receiving 92 wind data from a wind speed information source 26. Theabsolute value wind speed is determined 94, as described above, ifneeded. The calculated wind speed is then compared 112 to a viewer'sindicated location of interest.

It may then be determined 118 whether or not the determined wind speedfor any particular viewer location of interest is above a threshold windspeed and thus is of likely interest to the viewer. This threshold windspeed may be fixed or may be viewer selectable by the viewer as part ofthe process of establishing the viewer profile. In the latter case thisthreshold wind speed may be saved as part of the viewer profile in theviewer profile database 44.

If the wind speed for a viewer location of interest is determined toexceed the wind speed threshold, a personalized wind speed presentationor warning may be generated 120 and delivered 122 to the viewer at theselected user contact address 124. The type of report generated 120 maydepend upon the communications channel by which it is delivered. Forexample, and e-mail or cell phone text message warning may be of theform “Warning. Winds exceeding twenty miles per hour at your location.”Such a message may be readily converted to a voice message usingavailable voice generation programs and delivered via a cellular or landline telephone. Alternatively, or additionally, the personalized windpresentation may include a geographic display of the type illustratedabove in FIG. 2, showing the wind speed contours on a map or otherbackground with respect to the viewer location of interest. In thiscase, for example, the geographic display may be centered on the userlocation of interest, and/or the user location of interest clearlyindicated. Such a graphic presentation may be generated using map 126 orother geographic data and delivered as part of an e-mail message orprovided at a personalized web page that is accessible via a linkprovided in such an e-mail message.

It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to theparticular exemplary applications and embodiments as illustrated anddescribed herein, but embraces such modified forms thereof as comewithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of presenting wind speed information, comprising: (a)receiving wind data defining wind detected for a geographic area; (b)deriving from the wind data wind speed contour lines delineating regionswithin the geographic area at which wind speeds within a selected rangeof wind speeds have been detected; and (c) displaying the wind speedcontour lines overlaid on a graphical representation of the geographicarea to provide a wind speed information presentation.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the wind data includes wind velocity data relative to aradar site and wherein deriving the wind speed contour lines includesconverting the wind velocity data relative to the radar site to absolutewind speed information and deriving the wind speed contour lines fromthe absolute wind speed information.
 3. The method of claim 2 whereinreceiving wind velocity data relative to a radar site includes receivingwind velocity data from a NEXRAD weather radar source.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein displaying the wind speed contour lines includesdisplaying an indication of the wind speeds delineated thereby.
 5. Themethod of claim 4 wherein displaying an indication of the wind speedsdelineated by the wind speed contour lines includes displaying the windspeed contour lines in colors indicating the wind velocities delineatedthereby.
 6. The method of claim 1 comprising additionally: (a) receivingweather radar reflectivity data indicating precipitation detected forthe geographic area; (b) deriving a graphical representation of thereceived weather radar reflectivity data; (c) displaying the graphicalrepresentation of the reflectivity data overlaid on the graphicalrepresentation of the geographic area; and (d) wherein displaying thewind speed contour lines includes displaying the wind speed contourlines overlaid on the graphical representation of the reflectivity dataand the graphical representation of the geographic area.
 7. The methodof claim 1 wherein the graphical representation of the geographic areais a computer generated map display.
 8. The method of claim 1 comprisingadditionally broadcasting the wind speed information presentation aspart of a televised weather report presentation.
 9. A system forgenerating a wind speed information presentation, comprising: (a) ageography database including graphical representations of geographicareas; (b) a graphical display device; and (c) a computer systemconnected to the geography database to retrieve graphicalrepresentations of geographic areas therefrom, to the graphical displaydevice, and to a source of wind data and adapted to receive wind datadefining wind detected for a geographic area from the source of winddata, to derive from the wind data wind speed contour lines delineatingregions within the geographic area at which wind speeds within aselected range of wind speeds have been detected; and to display on thegraphical display device the wind speed contour lines overlaid on agraphical representation of the geographic area to provide a wind speedinformation presentation.
 10. The system for generating a wind speedinformation presentation of claim 9 wherein the wind speed data receivedfrom the source of wind data includes wind velocity data relative to aradar site and wherein the computer system is adapted to convert thewind velocity data relative to the radar site to absolute wind speedinformation and to derive the wind speed contour lines from the absolutewind velocity information.
 11. The system for generating a wind speedinformation presentation of claim 10 wherein the computer system isconnected to a NEXRAD weather radar source to receive wind velocity datarelative to a NEXRAD radar site therefrom.
 12. The system for generatinga wind speed information presentation of claim 9 wherein the computersystem is adapted to display on the graphical display device anindication of the wind speeds delineated by the wind velocity contourlines.
 13. The system for generating a wind speed informationpresentation of claim 12 wherein the computer system is adapted todisplay on the graphical display device an indication of the wind speedsdelineated by the wind speed contour lines by displaying the wind speedcontour lines in colors indicating the wind speeds delineated thereby.14. The system for generating a wind speed information presentation ofclaim 9 wherein the computer system is connected to a weather radarsystem and is further adapted to receive from the weather radar systemweather radar reflectivity data indicating precipitation detected forthe geographic area, to derive a graphical representation of thereceived weather radar reflectivity data, and to display on thegraphical display the graphical representation of the reflectivity dataoverlaid on the graphical display of the geographic area with the windspeed contour lines displayed overlaid on the graphical representationof the reflectivity data and the graphical display of the geographicarea.
 15. The system for generating a wind speed informationpresentation of claim 9 wherein the geography database includes computergenerated maps of geographic areas and wherein the graphicalrepresentation of the geographic area displayed on the graphical displaydevice is a computer generated map display.
 16. The system forgenerating a wind speed information presentation of claim 9 wherein thegraphical display device is a computer monitor device.
 17. The systemfor generating a wind speed information presentation of claim 9 whereinthe computer system is connected to a broadcast system and is adapted tosend the wind speed information presentation to the broadcast system forbroadcasting the wind speed information presentation as part of atelevised weather report presentation.